Editorial: Monday briefing

Carry — or Kerry — on

President Barack Obama’s nomination Friday of U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as his next secretary of state seems a sure thing, especially when considering the questionable image of the president’s former nominee.

Kerry, a former Democratic nominee for president, has a long political track record, and while the senator is far from a conservative, he promises to be an asset to the current administration.

Kerry’s qualifications are many — from his long career in the Senate (especially on the Foreign Relations Committee) to his military experience. While Kerry’s military service in Vietnam was an issue during his presidential run, he was a decorated soldier, which should be respected.

Kerry has significant experience in foreign affairs and understands the president’s foreign policy initiatives (which is good or bad, depending on your political views).

Kerry’s nomination will likely gain approval among his colleagues in the Senate.

What’s just as certain is that Kerry does not carry — pardon the pun — the political baggage of former nominee, Susan Rice, and that’s progress.

Bashing on Boehner

Democrats were only too quick last week to pile on U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio — the House Speaker — for his failure to come through on the so-called “Plan B” to avoid the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts, a scenario that is now a household phrase called “fiscal cliff.”

Does Boehner deserve the bashing?

Yes, to a degree.

Boehner made a public pledge to get “Plan B” out of the House, but had to pull the bill off the floor late Thursday when its doom became apparent.

While Boehner will have to deal with the political fallout — especially within the Republican Party — let us not forget that America’s taxpayers have been waiting for some sort of compromise or solution to the fiscal cliff for weeks, or more specifically the oncoming hit to their pocketbooks Jan. 1.

Unfortunately, it appears more likely with each passing day the fiscal cliff is unavoidable.

Considering how much time has been spent trying to pad the fall off this cliff, there is more than one politician or party to blame.

Shut up and drive, young-uns

Not to stir up the hornet’s nest that is Amarillo’s ban on driving and using handheld cellphones — well, in the spirit of honesty, maybe we do want to stir it up — the state of Texas already has laws and restrictions in place that ban young drivers from using their phones.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, drivers using a learner’s permit are prohibited from using handheld phones the first six months they are on the road. Drivers under 18 cannot use wireless communication devices, and all drivers — no matter their age — cannot use a handheld device in a school zone.

Most drivers may have been aware of these restrictions on young drivers — and young drivers had better be aware — but the state restrictions are worth repeating, if for no other reason than to silence any possible opposition to Amarillo’s ordinance by young drivers.

After all, the state of Texas says you have to put the phone down and drive anyway, so you might as well follow the law — and be safe in more ways than one.